Thanks for your reply. Sorry for taking a while to reply, but I'd given up on getting a reply to this message, so I was surprised to see one.

Thank you for your input. If what you say is true, it's shocking to think that there could be no limit on the prison term. You are there until you pay back the money, but you can't earn money while in jail, and would people be generous enough to "loan" you the money?

I've found some more details since I posted, and James Dallas could have afforded to raise the money somehow. In 1818 he was running a saddlery business in Golspie, and in April 1817 he had opened another shop in Wick. It was here that he later moved, and he ran the business for about 50 years in Wick, it later being taken over by a grandson, James Wares, who ran it until his death in 1899.

Also, when James came north to Wick, he bought a large house and a lot of land in Gallowhill (near where Bignold Hospital used to be). So he had the money.

However, I've since researched a comment made in the last entry for Dornoch Jail. It mentions Cessio Honorum, which is correctly known as Cession Bonorum. James instigated a hearing through the Court of Session, and this required the creditors to attend a meeting where James would argue that his inability to pay was through circumstances outwith his control - that is to say his actions were not fraudulent, but mere bad luck.

This must have been successful, as he ends up in Wick.

Well, there you go. Hopefully you are still awake, and thank you again for your input.

Steven